Season One
1. "The Journey Begins": As the pilot episode of Avonlea opens, we are introduced to a wealthy eleven-year-old girl named Sara Stanely who is living with her father in a sumptuous Montreal estate. Her mother has been dead for eight years and her upbringing has been left to her Nanny Louisa, a fussy old woman whose goal is to see Sara grow into a proper and accomplished young lady. Sara's life is turned upside-down when her "papa", Blair Stanley, is accused of embezzlement and placed under house arrest. Wishing to protect his daughter from the embarassment and public disgrace associated with the scandal (which he truthfully had no part in), Mr. Stanley arranges for her to stay with relatives in the small Prince Edward Island village of Avonlea. She ends up living with her stern Aunt Hetty, the local school teacher, and her Aunt Olivia, a shy peacemaker. Sara must deal with a new lifestyle, unfriendly cousins, and nosy townsfolk before she can start to "fit in", but when she is finally offered the opportunity to return home, she elects to stay. Rating: ***
2. "The Story Girl Earns Her Name": The Avonlea school is raising money for books and Sara decides that the King family must make the largest donation. She leads her cousins Felicity, Felix, Cecily, and Andrew in several campaigns, including a plea for cash from a local millionaire. Things don't seem to be working out until a despondent Sara runs into a recluse named Jasper Dale who owns and operates a "magic lantern". She convinces him to help her put on a benefit show and he agrees, even though he is taunted mercilessly by children and gossipy ladies who have nicknamed him "The Awkward Man". In the end, Sara's amazing performance as a story-teller so moves Wellington Campbell (the millionaire) that he makes a thousand dollar donation to the school library fund. Rating: *
3. "Proof of the Pudding": Alec and Janet King decide to go on an anniversary trip to Charlottetown and they leave Felicity in charge of the household. Things start to get out of control when Hetty suddenly runs off to settle an urgent legal matter and drops Sara off at the King Farm. Chaos reigns as Felicity attempts to organize the younger children for a house-cleaning operation and put Felix on a diet because he is "overweight and a glutton". Felix runs away from home for the afternoon and when the other children find him they think he has been eating poison berries, which causes a great deal of panic. The next day, a case of mistaken identity causes embarassment for Felicity and merriment for the others who have had just about enough of her tyrannical ways. In the end, everything gets sorted out and the King adults never find out what really happened. Rating: ***
4. "The Quarantine at Alexander Abraham's": When Rachel Lynde (widow and Sunday School teacher at the Presbyterian church) goes on a search for a truant pupil, she winds up quarantined in the house of a crusty old bachelor named Alexander Abraham. She is a determined woman who doesn't get along with men, while he has been labeled a "woman-hater" by the residents of Avonlea. To make matters worse, Felix and Sara also get stuck inside the house when Felicity dares them to sneak in through an open window. Over the next month, they four of them learn to live with each other. Rachel Lynde does her best to reform Mr. Abraham and organize his decrepit residence, which irritates him at first. Their relationship is cemented when he comes down with smallpox and she cares for him in defiance of the doctor's orders. Then Felix gets sick and Janet King takes out her anger on Mrs. Lynde. When they finally escape, Sara declares that Mr. Abraham has become one of her dearest friends and he has to agree that women really aren't that bad. Rating: ***
5. "Aunt Abigail's Beau": Janet King's younger sister Abigail has never married and lives alone in the old family home, devoted to cleaning, canning, and other household tasks. One day, Malcolm McEwen waltzes into town and sweeps her off her feet once again. Seven years before, he had wanted to marry her but her father thought that he wasn't good enough, being a poor country boy. Now he has become quite wealthy after years of searching for gold in the Yukon and is back to "have another go at Abigail". They agree to marry, but Abigail begins to have second thoughts about the impulsive Malcolm as she discovers that he is even more sloppy and careless than she remembered. She returns the ring and calls off the wedding only to realize that she can't live without him. Rating: ***1/2
6. "Malcolm and the Baby": A baby boy named Robert is orphaned and left in the care of a neighbor and an insensitive lawyer who wants to send him to an asylum. Rachel Lynde and Hetty King are arguing over which one of them should take care of the baby (Rachel is a distant relative and Hetty was a friend of the mother), when the child disappears. Everyone in the town is horrified...except for Felicity and Sara. They have taken the baby and left it on the doorstep of newlyweds Malcolm and Abigail McEwen after overhearing a conversation in which Abigail explained that she was too old to have a baby. Soon the child's whereabouts are discovered (my favorite line...when Sara asks her aunts, "If someone took the baby and gave it some people who really, really loved it...would that person still be in...real trouble?") and the McEwens are allowed to keep little Robert in the end. Rating: ***
7. "Conversions": Hetty King decides that her hired boy, Peter Craig, needs to get some schooling and Sara decides that he needs to go to church. Peter is constantly taunted by his classmates as a "witch's helper" because he converses with an eccentric old woman named Peg Bowen. Many of the children, including Felicity, look down on him and take any opportunity to tease him. Peg Bowen shows up in church one Sunday and shocks the townsfolk by confronting them with all of their faults, which sets Peter laughing and only makes matters worse. Then Peter becomes seriously ill and Felicity and co. are laughing out of the other sides of their mouths. He escapes death with the help of an herbal medicine provided by the "witch" and the King children are repentant. Rating: **
8. "The Witch of Avonlea": The Prince Edward Island spelling bee is coming up and it's Avonlea's turn to host the competition. Hetty decides to have several practice bees at school to determine who will go to the championships, but things aren't going very well for Felix who lacks confidence and is terrified of Hetty's "dunce cap". He runs away from school and when he is returned by Constable Jeffries, Hetty decides to keep him after hours as a punishment. By nightfall, he is still not home and it is snowing heavily. The family organizes a search party, but he is nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, Felix has wandered into the woods and been rescued by Peg Bowen. He is afraid of her at first, but he finally confides in her about his problems at school. She gives him a stone and tells him that it is a magic crystal which will enable him to spell "any word in the known universe and beyond". He learns to believe in himself and makes it all the way to the Island championship when he loses the rock. When he learns that the "real magic was believing in himself", he is able to pull himself together and win the competition. Rating: ***
9. "The Materializing of Duncan": Marilla Cuthbert, feeling a little embarassed about her lack of beaux, fabricates a tale of a fictional admirer named Duncan McTavish. She tells the other ladies in the sewing circle that they were in love but never married because she is a Presbyterian and he is a Methodist. Disaster ensues when a travelling salesman shows up in town...whose name really is Duncan McTavish! The town gossips are delighted and Marilla's reluctance to meet him is attributed to her troubled past. Sara Stanley decides to take matters into her own hands and confront Mr. McTavish about his past, which prompts him to confront Marilla about her lies. In the end, the two of them are able to laugh about it and Duncan McTavish escorts Marilla home from church on the following Sunday so that she will be able to save face. Rating: ****
10. "The Hope Chest of Arabella King": No review available
11. "Felicity's Challenge": Clemmie Ray is shy, chubby, and awkward. She is teased constantly by the female class bullies, Sally Potts and Jane Spry. While working on their costumes for the annual Harvest Party, Sally and Jane dare Felicity to give Clemmie a makeover and dress her up as a princess for the party. Felicity accepts, but Sara is disgusted and refuses to attend, angrily ignoring Felicity's pleas for approval. By the evening of the celebration, Clemmie has been squeezed into one of Felicity's old costumes and trained in the art of conversation, but she still doesn't know how to "sparkle". Felicity loses the bet and Clemmie realizes that she has been used. Eventually, Felicity decides to swallow her pride and apologize. Rating: *
12. "Song of the Night": An eccentric elderly aristocrat called "Old Lady Lloyd" lives in a dilapidated mansion set far back from the road. When a young singer named Sylvia Gray, who is a friend of Olivia King, comes to visit, a mystery begins to unravel. Sara decides to get to the bottom of things by befriending Miss Lloyd and asking her about her relationship to Sylvia. The old lady is annoyed by Sara's prying and reacts violently, but she learns that although she is no longer wealthy, she has ties to a rich cousin who can help Sylvia realize her dreams. Her love for Miss Gray's dead father overcomes her pride and she realizes that it is her duty to help the struggling artist. Rating: **
13. "Nothing Endures But Change": No review available